I just finished making some custom grips out of desert ironwood burl for my Freedom Arms M83, and I thought they turned out pretty nice. Had her out at the range today and decided to snap a few shots to show her off...

Ted

Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle.

Yeah, when I bought it, I figured I might as well get it in the chambering that the FA revolver is most associated with. It's pretty punishing on BOTH ends! Touch off a hot 260 - 360 gr load... and it'll get your attention!

Truthfully, unless one is going after big bears, a .454 Casull won't really do anything that a .44 mag or a hot loaded .45 LC won't also do. But if I ever go hunting in Alaska, it will provide a bit of extra peace of mind.

Mainly, I've always just admired the build quality, bank vault tight FA83, so I bought this baby about 2 years ago.

Ted

Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle.

After seeing that gun at your house a couple of weeks ago, I put a FA in 44mag on my "project" list.

That is a good looking gun!

ILya

It's also available in .475 Linebaugh and .500 Wyoming Express...

Mine is the fixed sight model ("Premier Grade," which means it has a brushed finish), as I wanted to keep things as simple and foolproof as possible. By design, the front sight as it came out of the box was a bit tall, so it initially shot low. This is on purpose, so the user can file the front sight down a little at a time to get the desired POI. I filed mine down so POI is zeroed at 50 yds. This thing is surprisingly accurate! Rested groups have demonstrated it shoots way better than my pistol shooting capabilities. When I'm shooting my best, I get tight little clusters (at the beginning of range sessions with it), but my ability to get tight groups declines pretty rapidly after 15-20 rounds or so, as my hands get tired from the death grip I have to use to control this punishing beast!

Most of the ones you see are the adjustable sight models. If you wanted to mount a scope, they offer mounts. They even offer an adapter that replaces the rear sight and direct mounts to the base of a Trijicon RMR.

It initially came with reddish colored laminated wood grips, but I decided to class it up a little.

Ted

Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle.

Some of you may wonder why I left the wood proud at the top front, where it meets the frame, whereas it's flush with the grip frame everywhere else. This was on purpose, and is exactly how the original OEM grips were designed as they came from FA. The reason this is done is to maintain optimal thickness throughout the grip profile to help spread out recoil over a wider area, yet have a slight taper from grip butt to top to get the desired "upward roll" in your hand during recoil. The secondary reason is so the increased thickness against the frame is less likely to develop cracks over time from repeated recoil. Some custom grip makers will bevel that front edge down so it's flush with the frame, but if I did that, it would be really thin in that area, since there's a lug on the frame you have to inlet a slot for in the underside of the grip.

Many people think replacing the hard wood grips with rubber would be more comfortable for recoil absorption. Actually, this is false on a SA revolver of this design, because as the muzzle rises sharply during recoil, the rubber grabs and pulls on your skin. Hard, smooth grips allow your hand to slide upward a little during recoil, which consumes some of the recoil energy in the process. The "Bisley-like" shape of the FA grip helps with recoil a bit as well.

Ted

Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle.

Beautiful job Ted. I'll bet that is a real handful to shoot too. I got my fathers 357 Colt Python with the original tiny grips and with full house factory rounds it almost jumps out of you hand. I'll bet yours is much worst.

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